FAQ

About Podcasts

What is a podcast?

Podcasts are a series of audio or video broadcasts that are distributed over the internet. They use a technology called RSS, which makes it easy to “subscribe” to a podcast so you can learn about new episodes as soon as they are published.

Are podcasts like internet radio or YouTube?

Kind of, but podcasts can be downloaded to your computer instead of requiring you to always watch them online. This may seem like a small difference, but it makes podcasts much more flexible.

What are the common file formats for podcasts?

For audio, mp3 is the most common. Videos are usually mp4 or m4v.

Do I need an iPod or iTunes to use podcasts?

No. A lot of people use iTunes to subscribe to podcasts, but podcasts are used all over the internet and on many different kinds of mobile devices besides iPods.

About the DailySplice Directory

How do I submit a podcast into the DailySplice directory?

Go to DailySpilce.com, click “Podcast Directory” then click “Submit Podcast”. You’ll need the RSS feed for the podcast, which can usually be found on the podcast author’s website.

I didn’t submit my podcast into the DailySplice directory, so how did it get in there?

There are many ways it may have got in there. Since anyone can submit podcast feeds, someone else who is a fan of your show may have submitted it. It may also be possible that a computer algorithm found it online and submitted it. Either way, DailySplice doesn’t currently allow anyone to “claim” a podcast, it just lists whatever is in the podcast RSS feed.

What is PodRank?

PodRank is DailySplice’s podcast ranking algorithm. It automatically ranks podcasts based on their popularity and how good the author is about routinely publishing new episodes.

How do I get my podcast noticed in the DailySplice directory?

Make your podcasts short, publish new episodes on a regular schedule, and publish frequently.

What are tags, and why would I tag a podcast?

Tags are key words that help describe what a podcast is about. Some of the keywords were created by the podcast author, but you can also “tag” podcasts yourself, which means you can add your own keywords to it. This will help others find it and can help you find it again later by listing all the podcasts you have tagged under “My Tags”.

About DailySplice Accounts

Why should I register with DailySplice?

If you register you can subscribe to a daily playlist of episodes from all your favorite podcasts. We try to let you do as much as possible without registering though.

Is DailySplice free?

Yes and no. For most people who are just looking for podcasts, you’ll never run into a feature you need to pay for. But DailySplice does offer branded Splice Stations and podcast publishing tools for organizations who want to start podcasting.

How do I change my password?

First you need an account, then go to “Splice Stations” and click “My Account” to find the password change option.

About the Splice Station Player

What is a Splice Station?

A podcast system that lets you create, aggregate, and manage multimedia online. Anyone can select their favorite podcasts on DailySplice.com and their Splice Station will create real-time playlists based on the latest and greatest new audio and video clips from those podcasts. The player can also be branded and plugged into your own website.

What are branded Splice Stations and how do I get one?

While anyone can put together a set of podcast on DailySplice and create a station out of them, branded Splice Stations also have a custom look and feel that is meant to fit with an organization’s website. This way, organizations can use Splice Stations to play media content using a branded player on their own website. Contact us to set up a branded Splice Station of your own.

Can the Splice Station play audio and video? Which file formats will work?

Yes. It plays mp3, mp4, m4v, mov, and flv files.

How do I add podcasts to my Splice Station?

Just search for podcasts on DailySplice.com and add them by clicking “add to my Station”.

Can I prioritize podcasts in my Splice Station?

Yes. When you’re in the DailySplice podcast directory, drag and drop the podcasts in your Splice Station (listed in the left sidebar) to prioritize them.

Can I subscribe to all the podcasts in my Splice Station at once?

You can get daily playlists either by RSS or email by going to dailysplice.com/settings.

How quickly do newly released podcast episode get recognized by a Splice Station?

New episodes in your podcast will usually be appear in your Splice Station within an hour of them being released by their original publishers.

What does “Played” and “Liked” mean?

“Played” counts the number of times a podcast or episode has been played. A “play” is only counted if the episode was played more than half way though.

How can I download episodes to my computer?

When you are playing the episode in the Splice Station player, click “Options…” then “Download this Episode”. You’ll get a browser window that links directly to the media file, which you can then right click to download.

How do I rate podcast episodes and why should I?

When the episode is playing, hover over the player window and click the thumbs up or thumbs down icon. This will help DailySplice recommend better, more personalized episodes to you in the future.

About Splice Studio

What is Splice Studio and how do I get access to it?

Splice Studio makes it easy to publish podcasts. Using Splice Studio you can upload your own audio or video files and manage your own podcasts from directly within any Splice Station player.

How do I add/edit/manage podcasts and podcast episodes in Splice Studio?

You can do all this by opening any Splice Station and clicking the menu orb. Make sure you’re signed in, and then click use the “Create a Podcast” to start a brand new podcast, and “Browse my podcasts” to add or manage episodes to existing podcasts or edit podcast details.

Can a Splice Studio podcast have multiple publishers?

Yes. After you set up a Splice Studio account, just email us and let us know the DailySplice usernames of all the people you want to be able to administer any of your podcast.

How much bandwidth / storage do podcasts use?

Audio podcast episodes will usually take up about 1 megabytes every 3 minutes. That means if you made a 30 minute podcast episode it will take up 10 megabytes of storage. It will also use up 10 megabytes of bandwidth every time someone downloads it. For video, multiply everything by at least 3-5 times, or even more if you are encoding very high quality video.

Where are my Splice Studio podcast episodes stored?

We store the files on a popular web service hosted by Amazon called S3. This means your files are very safe and secure and distributed across many servers around the United States.

Can I host my own Splice Studio episodes?

Yes. Just upload it wherever you want to store it and then use enter the url that links to the file instead of uploading it when you are adding the episode via Splice Studio.

Why don’t changes to my podcasts or episodes show up right away in my Splice player?

You’ll need to refresh the browser window for your Splice Station player if you want to see the changes.

Can I change my podcasts’ subdomain or url?

No. Well, you can if you really need to, but you’ll have to email us… so try not to make any typos when you name your podcast URL.

How do I insert intro or exit music to my audio podcasts?

Go to the “edit details” section for the podcast you want to insert an intro or exit sound to. Scroll down to the bottom under “Episode Defaults” and add the sounds in mp3 format to the “lead-in” or “lead-out” fields. The sound will automatically be stitched on to the beginning and/or end of all new episodes.

How can people subscribe to my Splice Studio podcasts?

If you want to allow people to subscribe to your podcasts, just provide the podcast RSS feed on your website. You can find the RSS feed by searching for the podcast in the DailySplice.com podcast directory and clicking on RSS feed.

How do I add my Splice Studio podcast to iTunes?

If you want to submit the podcast to the iTunes podcast directory, see the instructions here: http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatson/podcasts/specs.html.
If you just want to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, open iTunes, click “Advanced” then “Subscribe to Podcast” and paste your podcast RSS feed into the provided field.

About Splice Phone Studio

How do I access Splice Phone Studio?

You’ll need a Splice Studio account number and PIN, then just dial 1-888-229-6377 on any touch tone phone.

What is a “target podcast”?

You may have publisher access to more than one podcast, so your target podcast is the one that you intend to publish the new episode to.

How quickly do new episodes from Splice Phone Studio get uploaded into my podcast?

Anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes depending on how long the episode is.

How do I get Splice Phone Studio to automatically recognize my phone number?

Log into any Splice Station and then click the menu orb, then account details, then enter your phone number in the “Caller ID” field.

How do I change my Splice Phone Studio account number and PIN?

Log into any Splice Station and then click the menu orb, then account details.

How do I edit the details of Splice Phone Studio recorded podcast episodes?

In the Splice Studio automated phone menu choose “record and publish later”. After you’ve finished your recording, log in to any Splice Station, go to browse my podcasts, and find the podcast where you recorded the new episode to. You’ll find the episode with the status “Draft”. Just click “Edit” to change the details and publish it.

How to I change the default target podcast Splice Phone Studio podcast episodes?

Log into any Splice Station and then click the menu orb, then account details. Select the defauly podcast from the drop down menu.